A God-given Handicap is Better than Self-Serving Pride

Judges 3:15–16 (ESV) Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes.

The story in Judges 3 of Ehud killing Eglon is very funny. We hear that Eglon first subjects Israel for 18 years. This is 10 years longer than what they first experienced at the hands of Cushan-rishathaim earlier in the chapter. The Judges cycle of disobedience and being sold into the hands of their enemies already looks ominous. Israel is struggling to stay faithful and things are getting worse.

Now because of this disobedience, God sends an overweight man who HE made strong to take them captive:

Judges 3:12 (ESV) And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel because they had done what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

God can strengthen whoever He wants to accomplish the purposes He intends for His people. Sometimes I think every national election in America is the work of the Lord to awaken His sleeping saints so that they pray and cry out to Him. But this story is interesting in that a gluttonous man is strengthened by the Lord to overpower Israel. A man who represents self-centered living becomes an agent of God's discipline.

Who does God raise up to deliver them? Ehud. He is described as "left-handed" on purpose. The idea of being left-handed today is not a big deal. But in ancient times, you were only left-handed if you had to be due to handicap. When we read further in this text we see that Ehud has to grab his sword strapped to his right thigh with his left hand (see Judges 3:21). This would only suggest his right hand was powerless. By all accounts in those times, he too was powerless. But to say that forgets one big idea: God is WITH Him in that weakness. 

Now the text goes out of its way to let us know Ehud makes his own sword with TWO EDGES. There is only one reason for that qualifier, a two-edged sword must have been unique to this time of ancient warfare. But Ehud is raised up by God to the extent that his handicap causes him to think outside of the box and fight in new and cunning ways. Think of how a double-edged sword would UNDO some measure of weakness incurred by the fact that he had to wield it from his left hand.

The point? Never disregard the handicaps and shortcomings God gives you. Paul will boast that Jesus once told him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV). Ehud's weakness made him strategic and ultimately successful. 

So God gives Israel a left-handed, handicap savior to show that the power to overcome the enemy and the wisdom to outsmart him comes from God alone. 

In the Judges account, Ehud manipulates the circumstances of tribute protocol to catch Eglon unawares and then sticks the whole sword in Eglon's stomach leaving him to die. It's an interesting story that reminds us handicaps from God are stronger than the self-serving (fatness) pride of man.

This is why the Gospel seems foolish to man but is ultimately the power of God to save! God does not use the weapons of this world to conquer nations. He does that through His love exhibited in His Son on a criminals Cross. The death of the Savior is the door through which we have victory forever!

Now, what is your "handicap"? What is that issue you have to deal with? It doesn't have to be a physical problem. It could be a social one, a family issue, a professional or an educational disadvantage. God is not powerless to use whatever you think you DON'T have going for you to do great and mighty things THROUGH you. So look at that weakness and tell God, "Do your best with my worst!"

And HE will get the glory.